environment--it's not a laboratory. you're catching this in a completelynaturalisticenvironment. youdon't know -- there's a lot of things. you don't know exactly how it's going to go. we set up everything and then as the pilots and parachuters were planning their execution, we had to hope that what they said they were going to do would come in and all work right. you'll see in the show a lot of stuff went wrong. >> dr. barth, i have to say, i've been somewhat fatalistic when i ride an airplane. why put on a seat belt? come on. no one is surviving this crash but that's not true. you say people survive plane crashes at an incredibly high rate? >> most people survive plane crashes and most plane crashes are survivable. >> because of where they've chosen to do, where they've chosen to sit? why do they survive? >> a whole lot of factors go into that, but part of it is being aware of where your exits are and what you're going to do to survive. some are dependent on the crash. the first ten rows were destroyed. >> oh, first class. >> sit in the way back. >> cindy measured the potential for inj

comings of the contemporarymediaenvironmentiswhile debates are supposed to be occasions where candidates thrash out matters of consequence thoughtfully and in detail the outcomes are often judged by snippets that are more about personal character than issues or problems. and i'm curious to know is it just that we talk about the moments, write about the moments, rerun the moments, but that people 40 are actually watching the debate trying to figure out who to vote for the moments don't resonate with them? >> i actually don't agree with that. i do think there are -- look, there are times where we genuflect over something that happens in a debate or on the campaign trail that might not matter a lot. but look, like for example in the primary you won't be surprised to hear me say this, i thought the $10,000 bet moment spoke to who mitt romney is. it spoke to what his, you know, what his life is like. it spoke to, you know, a lot of things about mitt romney. how out of touch he is. so i think -- and people really focused on that for a week after that debate. so i think there are mom

to the issue of access. it is -- it is preand commercialfreeenvironmentandit is -- it is -- universally accessible to anyone with a television which is nnch this country. and if you can't afford cable, if you can't afford premium content, you can rely on the public broadcasting service. is pbs perfect? no. have they provided through their children's programming for almost 50 years some of the finest educational content worldwide for our nation's children? absolutely. does it deserve to be on the chopping block? >> that's the word i was looking for. chopping block. thank you for helping me out. >> chopping block. here is -- here's something i would like to point out, soledad. i know in this current economic climate we have to make different choices. however, i was raised by a woman whose philosophy it was to give her children the best education she could not afford. do you understand what i'm saying? >> value in the free. >> we have to make the investment in our children if we expect for them to pay off on that investment through their realizing their most full potential. so there are pl